Thursday, 29 December 2016

Scirocco, a well thought name for an Italian restaurant situated on a foreign soil. This is an absolute hidden gem in New BEL Road. If I hadn’t found it on Zomato, probably I wouldn’t have visited this place ever.

It is located on the first floor of the building which is opposite to Cafe Coffee Day in 80 Feet Road which connects to the MSR Junction. Due to trees and poor sign board it makes difficult to find this restaurant. You can depend on Google Map if you get confused.

AMBIENCE

Elegant and cozy. They have branded their restaurant well right from the ground floor by mentioning appetizers name on stairs. It’s basically a cafe theme with an uniformity all around the place. Whether it is comfortable upholstery or the wall decals everything matches up to the theme. Especially the seating next to large window facing towards the road is enough to make your evening memorable.

SERVICE

I don’t know how long ago this restaurant opened, but the staff seems to be new and inexperienced. I’m not saying that they are rude, their hospitality is too good and I admire that. But when things come to handling the cutleries, right time to intervene the guests and prioritizing the order should be taught to the stewards. All staffs generally gang-up in a corner near service desk and when guests needs them, they should literally stand up or raise their hands to call the stewards. At least if one or two stewards present in dining area, service part can get better.

FOOD

When you look at the menu it really surprises you by their huge collection of pizza, pasta, beverages, appetisers and desserts. I took around 15 minutes to order as I found it very difficult to choose from such great collection. However I narrowed down to 4 items and here is my experience with them;

Sparkling Strawberry: The fizz in this drink was just outstanding. And the pinching flavour of strawberry was really good. I just loved this drink and gave great start to my evening.

Garlic Bread Sticks: Compared contemporary pizza places of Bengaluru, Garlic Bread was quite nice here. They have used very less cheese as per my request and the spices sprinkled on it gave a lovely texture and tasted good. It justifies the price tag.

Nawabi Pizza: Honestly I didn’t wanted to try any Indian version of Pizza in a restaurant which had true italian essence in it. But since my friend insisted on this, I had no other choice than ordering this. This was 10” thin crust pizza with the topping of juicy corn, well sliced capsicum, tomato and onions with the combination of spicy tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. The cheese over here had slightly superior taste compared to other pizza place.

Pizza Mellino: Since the foodie inside me was craving for true Italian pizza I order 6” Pizza Mellino and it tasted delicious. This was topped with some of the true Italian toppings like spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, green olives, pickled onions, roasted red & yellow capsicums and Jalapeno. The toppings were overwhelming and the taste of such great toppings with the fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese was just awesome. It felt like the pizza came directly from a kitchen in Paris. It’s just fantastico!

EVERYTHING ELSE: The whole floor is air conditioned and when it comes to hygiene factor, it’s spotless. Instead of sauce dispensers they keep sachets on the table which is more hygienic but gets messy when you try to tear it with cheesy hands. Parking wouldn’t be a problem as there is ample parking space opposite to the restaurants. As per my observation, it’s not too crowded and makes it a perfect place to have long conversation. The price on the menu are inclusive of tax and there is no additional charges. The entire menu was priced very moderately.

FINAL VERDICT: Value for money and a lovely place for Italian food lovers. I strongly recommend this place for its ambience, quality and for pizza.

BAKASURA RATING

4.0 / 5

FIND IT ON ZOMATO

GALLERY

AMBIENCE

FOOD

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Friday, 23 December 2016

Have you ever tasted anything which seems to be fallen from Heaven? No??? Then head towards Chikkanna Tiffin Room in Cubbonpet to have their amazing Masala Dosa made with generous portion of pure ghee.

Though this place exist from more than six decades, I came to know about this restaurant very recently through my foodie friends. The reason behind this place not being so popular is simple, people don’t want to share precious gem like Chikkanna Tiffin Room with others.

LOCATION: This place is located in an isolated street of Cubbon Pete just behind Ulsoor Gate Police Station. Google Maps can help you out. If not you can seek guidance from the local. The road which leads to this restaurant is very narrow and often gets jammed. My advice is to drive to this place in a two wheeler.

AMBIENCE

It’s very very basic, small and squeezy… Yes! It feels uncomfortable to dine in such small space bumping into other customers. But this is one of a kind of experience which makes to fall in comfortable zone with fellow guests by admiring the taste of Dosa. Everything is fair for Love and Dosa!

The cash counter is at the door itself and the serving counter is just two steps away from the cash counter. They have managed to keep a hand wash area and a dustbin in such small space. They do have limited seats which can accommodate 6-8 guests. Most of the people prefer stand-eat option and some people like me prefer eating outside the restaurant. Whichever place you choose the soothing taste of Dosa will make you comfortable.

EPIC DOSA

The aroma of the Masala Dosa will surely please you by reaching to your soul. We just stood near the serving counter for more than 15 mins just to treat our nostrils with that incredible aroma of ghee blending with Dosa. The preparation of Dosa looks tempting and as other guests are handed dosa your mouth literally waters without your knowledge.

After such exotic session of whiffing and mouthwatering… When the dosa arrives to your hand on a Banana Leaf it feels like the whole world bowed down before you! And the first bite of the Dosa will feel like pure divine. Why Not, The crispy Masala Dosa which is just out of the Ghee bath gives out an extreme pleasing experience to all your five senses.

The taste of this dosa can not be described in words but each bite will have rich essence of ghee. The outer layer of the dosa will be crispy and the inner part will be soft. The combination of these layers with well grinded spicy chutney and thoroughly mashed potato palya will just enlight your morning by opening your mind. One Full Masala Dosa is enough to overwhelmingly fill your morning calories.

Khaali Dosa at Chikkanna Tiffin Room

They serve two types of Dosas; Masala Dosa and Khaali Dosa

Though both Masala Dosa and Khaali Dosa are born from the same pan, they are completely different and belongs to their own league. Yes! Khaali Dosa will be too soft and the golden colour of the outer circle will definitely tempts you. The presentation of this dosa is even more exotic… it involves;

Layer 1 : Banana Leaf

Layer 2 : Khaali Dosa

Layer 3 : Vegetable Sagu

Layer 4 : Spicy Chutney

Layer 5 : Lots and Lots and Lots of Ghee

You just can’t avoid yourself by drooling over it, The Taste!?? It’s beyond this universe. The combination of Dosa, Sagu, Chutney and Ghee is so so good and once you finish this dish unknowingly you will be licking your fingers. Banana Leaf has a special quality to enhance the taste of ghee and it can be perfectly experienced in here.

Idli: First Bite! And I fell in confusion!!! Whether this is Idli or bit hardened Butter! Yes it was so soft and delicate. This dish also follows the same pattern of Layers just like Khaali Dosa but it has an entirely different approach towards your tastebuds. Rarely I have tasted Idli with the combination of Sagu and I actually disliked it before. But after tasting Idli with Sagu in Chikkanna Tiffin Room, I just become the fan of it. Lovely!

SERVICE: This restaurant is maintained by a family and you can easily make that out by seeing the co-ordination between them. They usually serve the dishes faster even when it is too crowded and best part is they assign the priority very well. Generally, they don’t mind pouring ghee on to your dishes but if you seek ghee repeatedly they will politely tell that Ghee is chargeable. I wish they had an unlimited ghee package so that I could pour the ghee for every bite.

EVERYTHING ELSE: Since it is located in a narrow road (or “Galli” to be precise) parking would be huge problem for four wheelers. But two wheelers can find space in any streets around this restaurant. Hygiene Factor is satisfactory as they serve food on disposable Banana Leaves. Lack of ventilation inside the restaurant might suffocate you. If you wish you can stand outside and have their delicacies peacefully. Pricing is moderate.

TIMINGS

Sunday: 7.00 AM - 11.30AM (Closed for Evening)

Monday: 5.00 PM - 8.00 PM (Closed for Morning)

Tuesday to Saturday : 7.00 AM - 11.30AM and 5.00 PM - 8.00 PM

Payment: Cash Only

FINAL VERDICT: This is one of the top dosa serving place in Bengaluru. If the taste means everything to you then this is the place you must visit. I would say, you must visit this restaurant at least once before you die.

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Tuesday, 20 December 2016

Whenever I discuss my plan to ride hundreds of Kilometers just to taste food, usually people react with phrases like “Are you Mad!??” , “This is insane dude” , “You gone crazy Man” , etc etc… But all these years, nothing has ever stopped me by adding adventure to my foodie tales. But this time it was little different as I planned a short road trip with like minded people who love food as much as I do! And getting into an adventure for the primary passion has excited many…

PC: Vinay Nagaraju

So… Here is how we planned; Creating an exclusive WhatsApp group for this plan was the first step, creating curiosity and temptation by posting pics and delicious discussions has backed up our plan very well and out of 25 Members 10 people turned up to the plan.

THE PLAN

PC : Naveen Suresh

Simple, just drive to Kanakapura - a small town situated just 6o KMs away from Bengaluru and visit the legendary Vasu Hotel to taste their famous Masala Dosa. This was our first ‘official’ plan with fellow foodies. And when we fixed the assembling time to early morning 7 AM on a cold Saturday, automatically some people choose comfy beds instead of riding with us. Without bothering much, we continued with our plan as 10 members assured about their attendance.

JOURNEY TOWARDS KANAKAPURA: We assembled at Metro - Cash and Carry near Banashankari between 7 to 8.30 AM. After a short introduction we started towards Kanakapura. When it’s a single lane road, bikers will always have advantage to save time by reaching the destination faster. Same thing happened with us, we bikers reached Kanakapura 30 Mins before and waited to welcome the luxury riders by sipping hot coffee.

VASU HOTEL

It's a legendary restaurant which is currently celebrating 75 Years of serving excellent Masala Dosa for the commuters of the infamous State Highway - 948 which use to connect Bangalore - Mysore - Coimbatore. This restaurant has served many generations and reserved the same charm till date.

I have been on this route so many times during my road trips and solo bike trips. But I came to know about this restaurant very recently by my foodie friends. Since then I was planning to visit this. And finally when we visited this restaurant on last Saturday I felt that I have accomplished my goal.

AMBIENCE

A very small entrance will surely mislead you and this is how people miss this restaurant. Once you enter the restaurant you can feel the nostalgia of this place by its raw ambience. Way the serving bay has been designed with wood arches, long dining tables, cement sheet roofing and of course the gray kitchen, it all takes you back in time. It can easily accommodate 70 people at once with its huge dining area. Kitchen occupies 30% of the whole restaurant.

SERVICE

Straight and forward. Many people who work here has more than a decade full of experience and it can be easily recognized by their organised working style. This restaurant offers only self service and the men at the service counter serve the dishes according the first come first serve priority. The amount of order each individual handles is a real amazing factor. They are quick and precise.

FOOD

To be honest, this place is good only for Masala Dosa. Rest of the things are just average or above average. We ordered Masala Dosa at first and when it arrived the size of the Dosa really surprised us. It was too big and the dark brown texture tempted us to attack and finish it in minutes. Taste!?? I won’t say it was extraordinary or out of the world… I can just say that it was perfect. Perfect in taste, crispiness and size. The chutney supplied with it blended well with the dosa. Palya (Subji) was too good. Potatoes were smashed well and cooked very precisely. It was overall a delicious package.

Chow-Chow Bath: Another south Indian delicacy which tasted good other than Masala Dosa. Khara Bath (Upma) was warm, moderately spicy and had perfect texture. Kesari Bath on the other hand had right amount of sweetness with few dry fruits being less oily at the same time.

Bisibelebath : It was more like a sambar rice. But a tasty sambar with a sweet twist. Though it was completely opposite to Bisibele taste, I liked it!

Menthya (Fenugreek) Rice: It was average as the flavour of Methi was too heavy which resulted in pungent kind of taste.

Poori Sagu: This was above average. They won’t fry poori freshly which results in over crispiness. However, the taste is manageable with chutney but Saagu was poor.

Rava Idli: Not at all impressed. Firstly the sagu supplied with it disappointed me then the idli itself was hard and rubbery. Couldn’t able to eat more than two chunks.

Idli: It was kind of okay and you can get such Idlis in any normal restaurants. Yes, it was soft but there was no ‘wow’ factor in it.

Muruku: Our final trail of the day and this too failed to impress as it was too salty. We were not able to munch even half of its portion.

AMAZING FACTS:

Hard work and consistency always pays. It’s absolutely holds true when we look at the history of Vasu Hotel. The man who joined this restaurant as a normal server 50 years has bought this place and continues the legend of serving Masala Dosa. It’s an inspiring story and tells us the moral that no service / work such as small or low. If you work hard you will come up in life eventually.

The pricing of the food is damn cheap and makes you think that you have entered the era of 90’s. They still follow the manual token system and the highest denomination token they have is of Rs.25 only. It costed just Rs.56 per head for such a lavish breakfast experience.

They haven’t renovated the building for decades to preserve the old charm of this restaurant.

EVERYTHING ELSE: There are two Vasu Hotels in Kanakpura and both are claimed to be of single owner. However, the Vasu Hotel which is in the middle of Kanakapura is the oldest. You can depend on Google Maps to reach this place or you can seek local guidance once you enter Kanakapura.

Hygiene factor is quite low and parking would be a real problem as it is located on the narrow highway.

FINAL VERDICT:In my experience riding all the way to Kanakapura just for the sake of this restaurant is not worthy. But if you are travelling in the same road it’s a must pit stop for breakfast.

I can guarantee that Masala Dosa won’t disappoint you but I’m not sure about other dishes.